> Skip to content
FEATURED:
  • Student-Success Resource Center
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
Sign In
ADVERTISEMENT
Ticker circle logo

The Ticker

Breaking news from all corners of academe.

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Show more sharing options
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Copy Link URLCopied!
  • Print

How UVa’s President Changed Her Tune on Sexual Assault

By  Andy Thomason
November 24, 2014

The University of Virginia’s initial response last week to an article in Rolling Stone magazine detailing a student’s rape in a fraternity house was slammed by critics as insufficient. While the college’s president, Teresa A. Sullivan, wrote

We're sorry. Something went wrong.

We are unable to fully display the content of this page.

The most likely cause of this is a content blocker on your computer or network.

Please allow access to our site, and then refresh this page. You may then be asked to log in, create an account if you don't already have one, or subscribe.

If you continue to experience issues, please contact us at 202-466-1032 or help@chronicle.com

The University of Virginia’s initial response last week to an article in Rolling Stone magazine detailing a student’s rape in a fraternity house was slammed by critics as insufficient. While the college’s president, Teresa A. Sullivan, wrote a letter promising a review of the student’s claims, the lead investigator chosen to conduct the review was an alumnus of the fraternity in question. The state’s attorney general nixed the choice.

A group of faculty members signed a letter in response to Ms. Sullivan’s message demanding that immediate action be taken to make clear “that violence against our students will not be tolerated.”

Within just a few days, the administration adopted a starkly different tone. On Saturday, Ms. Sullivan wrote a second letter to the campus in which she announced that all fraternities would be suspended until early next year.

The shift in tone can be seen most clearly by examining Ms. Sullivan’s two statements side by side. Here are three important ways she changed her tune:

1. She became less defensive.

ADVERTISEMENT

Screen Shot 2014-11-24 at 10.51.44 AM

In the first letter, above, Ms. Sullivan opens with the phrase “negatively depicts,” making it seem as if what was at issue was only a matter of appearances. She then writes that she cannot talk about the case for legal reasons, but offers the defense that the female student did not tell the college everything. In the next paragraph, Ms. Sullivan writes that sexual assault is a problem “across the nation,” not just in Charlottesville, Va.

The overwhelming takeaway is that this is a college president defending her university amid a public outcry. In the second letter, she adopts a different stance:

Screen Shot 2014-11-24 at 10.59.33 AM
ADVERTISEMENT

First, Ms. Sullivan accepts the article’s claims. She condemns sexual assault at the University of Virginia and everywhere else. And, tellingly, she does say the college is “better than we have been described,” but uses the message as a call to arms rather than a simple defense. She even invokes Thomas Jefferson (“It is more honorable to repair a wrong than to persist in it.”) to reinforce the message.

While in the first letter Ms. Sullivan refers only to “sexual violence” and “sexual misconduct,” in the second letter she calls it “rape.”

2. She made it personal.

In the first letter Ms. Sullivan uses the word “we” more than “I” and refers to students frequently as “them":

ADVERTISEMENT

Screen Shot 2014-11-24 at 11.18.29 AM

In the second letter she embraces “I” and “you” for a more direct appeal:

Screen Shot 2014-11-24 at 11.10.25 AM

ADVERTISEMENT

Ms. Sullivan writes that she, too, feels the toll of the revelations and that she hopes she and students can unite in that spirit to improve the college’s response to sexual assault.

3. She looked ahead.

In the first letter Ms. Sullivan spends three paragraphs describing things the university has already done or planned to do to prevent sexual assault:

Screen Shot 2014-11-24 at 11.27.27 AM

ADVERTISEMENT

In the second letter she announces new steps—the suspension of the fraternities and discussion at a Tuesday meeting of the Board of Visitors—and asks students to join her in action:

Screen Shot 2014-11-24 at 11.30.28 AM

The new steps described by Ms. Sullivan place her in a better position to ask for engagement from the whole community.

Andy Thomason
Andy Thomason is an assistant managing editor at The Chronicle and the author of the book Discredited: The UNC Scandal and College Athletics’ Amateur Ideal.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Accessibility Statement
    Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
    Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2023 The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin